India's wealth management industry is entering its defining decade

As private fortunes expand rapidly, the strength of advisory institutions may determine whether they endure

Last Updated: Mar 09, 2026, 18:14 IST4 min

India's economic trajectory is no longer a projection. It is a structural shift. By 2047, the economy expects to grow from $4 trillion to $30 trillion, placing it among the world's three largest. That expansion represents not just national progress, but a generational wealth-creation cycle.

The shift is already visible. India is now home to one of the fastest-growing populations of High Net-Worth and Ultra High-Net-Worth Individuals globally. The HNI population is projected to double to 1.65 million by 2027. The UHNI segment is expected to grow 50% by 2028, outpacing the global average. Nearly 20% of India's super-rich are under 40, fuelled by start-ups, fintech, and IPO-led wealth creation.

Srinivas Mendu, CEO, FundsIndia Private Wealth

"This is a generational opportunity," says Srinivas Mendu, CEO of FundsIndia Private Wealth. "A significant share of India's wealth will be created in the next few decades."

But rapid wealth creation brings second-order consequences. The infrastructure required to preserve, structure, and transition that wealth across generations is still evolving.

The Preservation and Transition Gap

Many of India's newly wealthy are first-generation wealth creators. They have global exposure, are well-travelled, and increasingly focused on legacy. Their needs stand apart from the intergenerationally wealthy, and from the aspirants who are investing their way up the ladder.

This cohort needs more than portfolio construction. It needs structuring. First-generation wealth often sits across operating businesses, concentrated equity positions, global assets, and private investments. Without deliberate design, complexity compounds as quickly as capital.

Estate planning and wealth transfer have gained urgency since the pandemic. Holdings frequently require coordination across legal, tax, and investment domains. At the same time, core priorities remain unchanged: children's education, retirement security, healthcare.

What has changed is the expectation of clarity. Increasingly, wealthy families are seeking transparent, goal-based frameworks that simplify complexity and can endure across generations. "The needs of HNIs have matured," Srinivas Mendu says. "It is no longer just about returns. It is about clarity, structure, and ensuring that wealth can be understood and stewarded by the next generation."

FundsIndia Private Wealth Team

Opportunity And Volatility Move Together

While India's long-term growth story is compelling, there's no denying that we live in a VUCA world. Opportunity and volatility have proved inseparable. Over the past two decades, investors have had to navigate the global financial crisis, a pandemic, and ongoing geopolitical disruptions. Market cycles have repeatedly tested conviction.

Yet for investors who stayed invested, strengthened their financial literacy, and resisted the impulse to react to every market shock, Indian equities have delivered strong long-term returns. Srinivas Mendu notes that over the last 20 years, Indian equities have multiplied investor wealth more than 16x, outperforming other major asset classes. "Owning stakes in quality businesses and allowing profit growth to compound over time remains one of the most powerful ways to build enduring wealth," he says. "But compounding requires patience and discipline."

And yet, household equity allocation remains modest, at roughly 6% of total financial assets. For him, this gap reflects both caution and structural under-advisory. The challenge then, isn't access to products; it is maintaining conviction.

Why Experience Now Carries A Different Weight

In volatile environments, experience compounds alongside capital.

The best advisors, Srinivas Mendu argues, are not necessarily those with the most sophisticated analytics. They are those who have navigated multiple market cycles and can provide clarity amid complexity. Knowing when to act, when to wait, when to book profits, and when to remain patient matters. So does the ability to distinguish structural signals from short-term noise.

Equally important is knowing where not to invest. Avoiding "portfolio accidents," as he describes them, can prevent setbacks that delay wealth creation by years.

Stewarding capital across generations requires principles that do not shift with market trends. Owning quality businesses with durable competitive advantages and allowing compounding to work across cycles is a discipline built over decades, not quarters.

Rethinking The Architecture Of Advice

India's wealth management industry is relatively young, especially when compared to more mature global markets. Even as we create more wealth as a nation, the institutional scaffolding required to preserve and transition it is still being constructed.

Firms like FundsIndia, built on nearly two-decade foundation, are attempting to close that gap by rethinking the design of private wealth platforms. The firm has structured its model around long-duration relationships. As Srinivas Mendu notes, the firm employs senior relationship managers with deep industry experience who are not bound by mandatory retirement ages, which enables continuity across generations.

The firm combines this relationship-driven approach with in-house research to design portfolios that aim to remain liquid, transparent, and aligned with long-term goals. Its backing from WestBridge Capital, which manages capital for large U.S. endowments, has further reinforced what he describes as a patient-capital philosophy grounded in steady compounding over decades.

"Our operating principle is straightforward," he says. "If we cannot recommend a product to our parents, we do not recommend it to our clients." The emphasis, he adds, is on judgment over product proliferation.

The Responsibility Of The Next Cycle

As India stands at the front end of a multi-decade wealth expansion, the opportunity is significant. The responsibility is greater.

Much of the private wealth that will define the country's economic future is yet to be structured, stress-tested, or transitioned. The decisions made now - around asset allocation, governance, succession, and advisory partnerships - will determine whether today's fortunes endure for generations or fragment within one.

The next chapter of India's economic story will hinge less on the speed of wealth creation and more on the strength of the institutions guiding it. Private wealth platforms that are built around continuity, principled capital allocation, and long-term alignment - rather than transaction velocity or short-term performance optics - are positioning themselves to shape that outcome.

The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.

First Published: Mar 09, 2026, 18:25

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